The Blog

French drone ace Killian Rousseau, 14, won the 2018 edition of the FAI Drone Racing World Cup.

The teenage drone pilot claimed the top spot in this year’s competition after seeing off no fewer than 668 other competitors hailing from 41 different countries.

Joining him on the podium are Poland’s Jan Wielgosz, also a Junior competitor, in second place, and David Spacek of Czechoslovakia in third. Of the first eight pilots, six are Juniors.

Drone racing is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, and this latest edition of the FAI Drone Racing World Cup was the biggest yet.

Played out over 22 events in 17 different countries around the world, it kicked off in Bali, Indonesia in April and closed with the Phoenix World Cup event in Prilep, Macedonia earlier this month.

This year’s competition involved a total of 669 pilots from 41 countries, up from 435 pilots from 37 countries last year.

Rankings – Top 10

Rank

Competitor

Country

Score

1

ROUSSEAU Killian (Junior)

FRA

161 points

2

WIELGOSZ Jan (Junior)

POL

144 points

3

SPACEK David

CZE

144 points

4

CHOI JoonWeon (Junior)

KOR

140 points

5

PETERSONS Tomass

LAT

138 points

6

LASZCZAK Pawel (Junior)

POL

135 points

7

GROUT Thomas (Junior)

FRA

133 points

7

MAXIMOV Platon (Junior)

RUS

133 points

9

FERREIRA André

POR

122 points

10

PETERSONS Kristaps

LAT

117 points

FAI Drone Racing

FAI promotes Drone Racing activities to the world. The Federation has awarded the organisation of the 1st FAI Drone Racing World Championship 2018 (1-4 November) to Shenzhen, China. Furthermore, FAI is developing a global Drone Racing series designed to represent the entire Drone Racing community, all the way from grassroots to elite level.

Multi-rotor FPV – or drone – racing competitions consist of successive races in which several radio- controlled model aircraft fight it out to be the fastest around a pre-determined circuit.

The events can take place inside or outside, while each pilot taking part has a helper to assist him or her. The high-tech drones used are equipped with on-board video cameras that transmit FPV (first person view) images to headsets worn by the pilots, allowing them to steer the tiny aircraft around the race circuit.